Tag Archives: Playa Negra

The holidays have come and gone but it is not at all quiet here in Puerto Viejo. This has been the busiest I have seen this little town and the restaurant and hotel owners happily are in agreement. It has been CRAZY!!

Crazy traffic

The beaches have been packed

People everywhere

and the streets in town are barely passable by bicycle or foot even though there has been a lot of rain. But I am not complaining. The energy is great and it is fun to talk to some of the people who are experiencing Puerto Viejo for the first time. Like my friend Dan and his two daughters Kim and Kristina.

Playing with the monkeys

I worked with Dan at the University of Idaho and he emailed me a couple of months ago saying that he and the girls were going to come to Costa Rica for a week in late December/early January and asked for some suggestions. I told him of the places we had visited throughout the country and in the end he decided to come here. He rented the main floor of a house way down the Playa Negra beach and spent time going out and seeing the sights. For being here only a week they packed a lot in. They hiked to a beautiful waterfall; learned how chocolate was made from the pods of cacao trees; toured Manzanillo National Park and saw tons of flora, foliage and animals; visited the Jaguar Rescue Center; and managed to get in a few yummy meals as well as a bit of shopping.

Anteater at the Jaguar Center

Shopping

On Saturday before they left the sun was out and it was gorgeous and they were able to hang out on the beach all day before we headed to Stashu’s Con Fusion for a great meal.

Fun as Stashus

Tom and I had a wonderful Christmas day – several friends came over for a late afternoon potluck and we all caught up on each other’s lives. It was very different from other Christmases we have had here and I really enjoyed staying home and just relaxing. New Years Eve we also stayed in. The fireworks were just too much for the dogs, They were petrified so we decided that a night in was best. And it turned out to be a great decision because there was a torrential downpour later in the evening. We just got cozy and listened to the rain, thankful that we were not outside.

Basilik

Naughty Sofi

Sofi gave us a scare last week. She almost killed one of the Basilik lizards that lives in one of the giant trees in our yard. We had seen the lizard earlier sitting on a bush enjoying the sun. While I was working in my office I heard a bunch of commotion outside my door and went out to check it out. There was Sofi with the poor lizard in her mouth. I yelled and she dropped it and it climbed up on one of the screen doors.

Basilik after Sofi tried to eat it

Up close

Tom picked it up and we checked it and didn’t find any damage so he put it back in the tree and it scurried up to safety. We are constantly on watch to try to make sure that the dogs don’t harm the jungle animals but that was definitely a close call.

So that is all the excitement in my life for the last few weeks. We are going to enjoy the sun for a while today and then kick back and watch the NFL football wild card matches. Life goes on here in my little corner of the world – Pura Vida!!

It has been a few months – four to be exact – since I last wrote. Not only does time fly by but I have been unusually busy. I decided a while ago that I needed to look for a job. Unexpected events in the last couple of years helped me understand that if we want to travel at all or be prepared for the unexpected, we needed to set some more money aside. So, I spent two months looking for a job and found one that is perfect!! I telecommute from my ‘office’ on my deck where I can still watch the birds and animals and feel a part of nature. But I also am learning something new and making some money. Definitely a win-win for me!

We are in the rainy season now and it has been welcome this year. The last four months were so dry that people were running out of water. In November we got 22 inches of rain and the plants loved it. I will never cease to be amazed at how quickly things grow here. One day we are putting a new plant in the ground and in a month it seems as if it is nearly grown.

The last couple of months we have had more hawks in the yard that we have seen in the entire time we have lived here. They are constantly talking to each other with their high pitched squeal. I have enjoyed spotting them and watching them swoop around the yard until they got one of our favorite little animals that we have enjoyed watching grow up. A couple of weeks ago a black hawk snatched up one of our little ‘dinosaurs’ and took him away for his noon meal. It made me sad – we had loved watching that one grow up. Yesterday, though, we saw the other one that we have living in our bodega and a new one who was running around on one of our trees. Life goes on in the rain forest.

On Saturday mornings we walk into town and go to the farmer’s market and then normally stop and have brunch at restaurants owned by friends. It is good to see everyone and catch up. As we walk along, we continue to pinch ourselves to make sure we aren’t dreaming. How lucky we feel to have found this place

Not too long ago, we went to San Jose with a friend and stopped along the road at one of the fruit and vegetable stands to load up for the week. I love the colors!